This isn't just a memoir, it's a survival manual for the soul.Gimme Shelter is the raw, unfiltered story of George Keller, who rose from the violence and trauma of Philadelphia's streets to experience a powerful spiritual rebirth. Abandoned, beaten down, and nearly broken, George journeyed through years of addiction before reclaiming his life.What began as an act of survival became a story of redemption and purpose. From juvenile detention centers to biker gangs, from stree...

Indoor Air Pollution: Radon, Bioaerosols, and VOCs covers the most current aspects of indoor pollution research, including vitally important topics such as radon, bioaerosols, and volatile organic compounds. The book presents information on microbial contamination abatement, chemical characterization of air samples, sick building syndrome, biological pollutants, liability of indoor air pollution, and measurement and control of radon. Industrial hygienists, toxicologists, safety officers, a...

George Keller’s case study of Elon University’s transformation from a struggling college with a limited endowment into a top regional university is now available in paperback.Ten years after the publication of Transforming a College, Elon University continues to thrive as a school that reinvented itself and its community around the idea of inspiring and guiding students. George Keller’s now-classic account has been used as an inspiration and playbook for m...

While he celebrated higher education as the engine of progress in every aspect of American life, George Keller also challenged academia’s sacred cows and entrenched practices with provocative ideas designed to induce “creative discomfort.” Completed shortly before his death in 2007, Higher Education and the New Society caps the career of one of higher education’s exceptional minds.Refining and expanding ideas Keller developed over his fifty-year career, this book is a clar...

In this sermon, Reverend Hiram Mattison discusses the argument for Christian opposition to theater. He states, “the theater has been one unmitigated moral pest through the whole twenty-five centuries of its existence.” Mattison presents supporting testimonies from the like of Aristotle, Augustine, and John Wesley. Regardless of the reader’s opinion on theater, this sermon provides fascinating insight into the institution’s reputation throughout history.

After criticizing US involvement in WWI, Eugene Debs found himself testifying in court for violation of the Sedition Act of 1918. Debs, an outspoken socialist and advocate, stated that he saw this law “as a despotic enactment in flagrant conflict with democratic principles and with the spirit of free institutions.” In his address to the court, he defends his socialism by discussing his working-class childhood and the plight of the American poor. Despite facing years in prison, Debs’ ended ...

Woodrow Wilson became the 28th president of the United States when he beat out President Taft and Theodore Roosevelt in the 1912 election. His election completed a shift to Democratic power across the executive and legislative branches. In his inaugural address, he explains his hopes for using this Democratic majority to enact the positive change for which Americans so clearly hungered. He ends with a call to unity, though, saying, “Here muster, not the forces of party, but the forces of h...

President Woodrow Wilson delivered this address on January 22, 1917, a few months before he asked Congress to vote to enter World War I. This speech reveals that he planned for the US to participate in the peace-making agreements long before he planned to take part in the fighting itself. The peace strategy he lays forth in this address mirrors the sentiments of his “14 points” message, delivered a year later at the end of the war. He states that these ideas are not just American ideals, “...

When an American sea captain sees a Spanish slave ship in distress, he reaches out with an offer to help. Once on board, however, the odd behavior of the captain, crew, and slaves leave him with an uneasy feeling that something is not as it seems. Melville based the plot of this novella on real events that occurred off the coast of Chile in 1799. Though it is not Melville’s best-known work, it is favored among scholars as one of his most complex.

On November 20, 1820, a sperm whale struck and sunk the whaling ship Essex, stranding the 21 crew members who escaped on three whale-boats in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, 2000 miles from land. Up against rough storms, vicious sharks, and desperation leading to cannibalism, only eight men survived. One was First Mate Owen Chase, who published this account of the disaster. His story served as real-life inspiration for Herman Melville’s Moby Dick.

President Woodrow Wilson entered World War I reluctantly, and he aimed to be strategic and fair when arranging peace terms to leave it.He delivered his 14-point treaty to Congress in January 1918. In it, he emphasized the importance of establishing free trade, restoring sovereign territories, and reducing arms. This speech outlined the terms on which he sought to establish enduring peace in Europe, which he recognized as vital to maintaining peace in the Americas as well as the rest...

With this famous speech, Daniel Webster joined the nineteenth-century debate over slavery in the US. While personally opposed to the practice, Webster argued that allowing the South to continue using slave labor was essential to maintaining unity of the states. This middle-ground opinion won him support of some Southerner moderates but also lost him the respect of some Northerners. Though it became the subject of much controversy, “The Constitution and the Union” showcases Webster’s unmatc...